# Northside High School (Houston)

Northside High School, formerly Jefferson Davis High School, is a secondary school located at 1101 Quitman in the Near Northside neighborhood of Northside, Houston, Texas with a ZIP code of 77009. The school was previously named after Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America.
The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston Independent School District. The mascot of Northside is the Panther.
The school also has a Hotel and Restaurant Management magnet program.
The HISD board voted to give the school its current name in 2016.

## History

Davis was previously reserved for white children but it desegregated by 1970.
In 1993, project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) was founded at Davis High. The program provides scholarships to students as incentive to complete high school and enroll in college.
Prior to 1996 it was renovated through the Renewal A bond program, which spent $5.5 million on Davis. In 1996 it had 1,800 students.

## Campus

In 1996 the school had terrazzo floors. At the time it had one temporary building used for classes and two others for other purposes; it had a fewer number compared to some other schools because it was not overcrowded. In 1996 Terry Kliewer of the Houston Chronicle praised the building's features and maintenance, and stated that it "exemplifies what is possible when an old building gets good maintenance and timely remodeling."

## Neighborhoods served by Northside

Northside High School serves Near Northside, Northside Village, Irvington, Lindale Park, a portion of the Fifth Ward, and most of Downtown Houston.
The school serves Irvington Village, a public housing unit and Fulton Village, a mixed-income unit, both of the Houston Housing Authority. The school's boundary also includes the Four Seasons Hotel Houston residences, Houston House Apartments, One Park Place, and The Rice.

## Student body

During the 2022-2023 school year, 1,168 students were enrolled at Northside. 94% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
* 86.1% Hispanic American
* 12.8% African American
* 0.9% White American
* 0.1% Asian American
* 0.0% Native American
* 0.1% Multiracial

## Extracurricular activities

In the summer of 2016, the former JDMB (Jeff Davis Marching Band), was reorganized into the Northside Marching Band. The Panther Band is directed by Timothy D. Richardson, a graduate of Prairie View A&M University, who took over the band program in 2015. The band specializes in show style marching, with certain elements implemented from corps style marching.
In 2015 the Mariachi Pantera had 28 students. It travels out of state. The Pantera had issues with lack of interest in 2014 but had recovered the following year.

## Feeder patterns

Elementary schools feeding into Davis include:
* Ketelsen
* Looscan
* Clemente Martinez
* Sherman
Partial:
* Crockett
* Gregory-Lincoln Education Center
* Herrera
* Jefferson
* Ross
* Travis
All of Marshall Middle School's attendance zone is within the Davis High School attendance zone.
Middle schools that have portions of their attendance boundaries zoned to Davis include:
* Burbank
* Fleming
* Gregory-Lincoln MS
* Key

## Notable alumni

* Frank Carswell - former Detroit Tigers outfielder and minor-league manager
* Carl Crawford - Major League Baseball outfielder 2002-16, 4-time All-Star
* James DeAnda - former federal judge of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
* Gene Green - Democratic Party member of U.S. House of Representatives
* Ricardo "Rocky" Juarez - 1999 World Champion boxer and Olympic silver medalist
* Slater N. Martin - NBA Basketball player and Hall of Famer, played for Minneapolis Lakers (now Los Angeles Lakers), New York Knicks, and St. Louis Hawks (now Atlanta Hawks).
* Kenny Rogers - country singer
* Jesse Valdez - participant in 1972 Olympic Games